Housing is now too important to be left to the private sector: and the government has become worse than useless. The banks have loads of cash to lend, but high house prices and static incomes make buying a house impossible. The answer is to return housing policy to the people, and solve the problem locally. [Read more…] about Hopeful Housing: A Policy
A Vote for Cameron is a Vote for Poverty
The forthcoming 2015 general election is not going to be about what kind of Britain we want to have in the future, but rather how we pay the bills. It has already descended into a kind of supermarket debate. Each side is bidding to offer good things in the future, and none really admitting how they will ever pay for it or, at least, they’re not prepared to tell us how they could. [Read more…] about A Vote for Cameron is a Vote for Poverty
Tony Benn
It is interesting that, among all the tributes paid to Tony Benn, almost nobody has owned up to actually agreeing with his policies, or as he would say, the ‘issues’ on which he fought his many battles (with the possible exception of Diane Abbott). I had personal experience of working with Tony Benn twice in my life. [Read more…] about Tony Benn
The Scandal of Mass Unemployment.
The fact that there are over two and a half million unemployed adults at a time when we are one of the richest countries in the world is nothing short of a disgrace. That we are wasting the talent and efforts of so many people when we need to promote economic growth should be a matter of permanent shame to the government. Most of the measures they have proposed have been embarrassingly ineffective and generally ridiculously small. [Read more…] about The Scandal of Mass Unemployment.
High Speed Hijinks on the HS2.
It is curious how, from nowhere, there was suddenly this summer a caucus opposing the proposed High Speed 2 railway. It was the summer season, Parliament was out, no bill was due, and in fact nothing was happening to promote HS2. But out of the shadows came Lawson, and then Mandelson, saying that HS2 was a waste of money. They were quickly followed by Darling and Prescott and finally the Public Accounts Committee. Then there was a critical report from the Institute of Economic Affairs, a little known right wing pressure group. All of which was then orchestrated by the BBC and The Independent.
An Open Letter to Ed Miliband
To The Right Honourable Ed Miliband,
Leader of Her Majesties Opposition.
Dear Mr Miliband,
You are certainly a very nice man and quite evidently an intelligent leader of your party. However, you are allowing your opponents to set your agenda. This puts you on to the defensive all the time. You must control your own agenda and to do so it needs to be new, easily understood, and positive. [Read more…] about An Open Letter to Ed Miliband